Labeling help, please!

[Sarila]

This is the first batch I have made that I think I am ready to sell, but I want to be sure I have it right.

I have been reading Marie Gale's book, and I think I mostly understand, but I still have some questions. I am in the U.S., in Texas. Though from my understanding, I could just label it as "Soap" and leave it at that, I think selling it as a cosmetic is probably best and I want to get used to doing it.

I used a shea butter melt and pour base, Lavender 40/42, and lavender buds. Does this look right for a label? Am I on the right track?

[FONT=&quot]Glycerin, Prop. Glycol, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut Oil), Triethanoalamine, Sodium Cocoate, Sodium Myristate, Sodium Laureth, Sodium Stearate, Titanium Dioxide, Shea Butter, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Purified Water, Lavender Buds, Lavandula Angustifo (Lavender 40/42 Essential Oil)

I know that the label is supposed to be done in the order of most to least in the finished product. How can I tell if I have my buds and oil in the right place? Or should they stay at the end, because everything before it is all part of one thing -- the melt and pour base?

I used 2 pounds of base, roughly .75 oz of buds, and roughly .25 oz of the oil. (I wanted to have exact measurements, but then I found out that my scale does not seem to be that sensitive -- I was adding the oil, and it never budged, not once, even once the bottle was empty. I will be looking at getting a new one soon, but was able to approximate the amounts by knowing how much the packages originally held and by the fact that they were empty when I was done.)

Thank you for your help!
[/FONT]

 

[SaltedFig]

Hi Sarila,

A quick heads-up message: Lavender buds in soap turn brown (I mostly CP, but apparently the same happens in M&P).

The resulting shape, size and color leads the lavender flowers to look like ... something else.

There was a recent M&P topic on lavender buds in soap: Lavender soap

 

[cmzaha]

As far as labeling you are actually required to label M&P since it does not meet the requirement of soap. Your mp base should have an ingredient list

 

[earlene]

I absolutely love my lavender soap, buds and all. But it is true that the buds don't look at all attractive as they turn brown. But I don't do much M&P so maybe they stay nicer than in CP soap. The lye turns them unsightly.

Last year I decided to try grinding up the lavender buds in my spice grinder and adding them that way. Well, now my lavender soap has hair! The ground buds did not really turn into a powder like I was hoping. They are just little bits of straw-like bits that stick out of the soap a lot like a butch hair cut. That's okay for hand washing, but no way I'm using that on the rest of my body. It's pretty scratchy. I still love the soap, though. The recipe makes a very luxurious bar of soap for me.

 

[Sarila]

Oh, they definitely turn brown/tan in M&P, too. But I still like them -- they give a natural and herbal look. Earlene, I absolutely relate to your story of grinding them and ending up with hairy soap! Even if they aren't ground, they still end up with a hairy look sometimes.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Marie Gale's book on labeling is the best! But, as cmzaha says, you can save yourself the time and trouble and get the correct label ingredients from the supplier -- to be correct, in terms of order from most to least, ask them for their advice for adding fragrance, lavender buds, colorant to the list. BTW, IME (in my experience), customers prefer ingredients written without the INCI nomenclature. (I do too... takes up less room on the label. )

For example, Elements Bath & Body in Colorado carries M&P soap bases closer to "all natural" and may be a better seller for you. Go to this link and choose "Bases" from the drop down menu at the top. Find the Shea Butter M&P base and check out the ingredients:

https://www.elementsbathandbody.com/

In addition to soap bases, they also sell just about everything you need -- labels by the sheet, fragrances, colorants, essential oils, Lavender 40/42 among them, altho I would recommend their lavender fragrance oil, a best seller, and cheaper! LOL

TIP: Fragrances sell! Which ever supplier you choose, I would get sample sizes of their "best sellers" to try -- until you see what your customers go for.

Your idea of combining Book themes with a Soap is a great idea! I think February is Black History month? Not sure. But you could do a display of books of Black history or authors and combine that with African Black Soap. Elements has a recipe for ABS that contains coconut carbon powder (aka "activated charcoal") which is very popular right now. I've made it and love it. Here's a link:

https://www.elementsbathandbody.com/Coconut-Carbon-Powder-Smooth.html

And of course, Valentine's Day! Drag out all those Romance Novels and surround them with Soap Hearts (or imbeds) and Chocolate Bath Truffles.

March is easy -- St. Paddy's Day -- Green Soap; Rainbow Soap; Guinness Beer Soap; Pot of Gold Soap - guest size rounds wrapped in gold foil? I leave the Irish themed books to your imagination... travel books? a book of verses by Robert Burns? Other Irish authors? Novels set in Ireland?

If you need ideas for each month, I'm sure you'll find no lack of inspiration from this group!